Tampa Bay Rays reliever Oliver Drake has elected free agency, per MLB.com’s Juan Toribio (via Twitter).
The Rays designated Drake for assignment after an injury forced him from their playoff roster. Though he’s obviously done for this season, the Rays could re-sign the much-traveled reliever, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).
Originally a 43rd-round draft pick of the Orioles back in 2008, Drake made his big-league debut as a 28-year-old with the Orioles in 2015. A trade to the Brewers in April of 2017 kicked off a nomadic period for Drake. The Indians purchased his contract from the Brewers after a season in Milwaukee, but then he’d be waived and claimed by the Angels, Blue Jays, Twins, Rays, and Blue Jays again, all over the course of the 2018 season. He appeared in the majors for five teams that season, the Rays, ironically, not among them.
Tampa would again purchase Drake’s contract in January of 2019 and keep him through the 2020 season. The 33-year-old reliever settled in with the Rays over the past season and a half. He was a significant bullpen piece for them in 2019, using his signature screwball to log a 3.21 ERA/3.87 FIP across 50 games, 56 innings. This season he made 11 appearances with a 5.73 ERA/5.92 FIP. Drake threw one scoreless inning in the ALDS against the Yankees.
Gotta love The Drake.
hate the drake
2019: gotta love The Drake
Every other year: hate The Drake!
Can he pitch in Texas tonight? Atlanta is hiring.
Farhan? fits what they said they were looking for – low cost veteran bullpen help in 2021
Why would the Giants want him?
These are uncharted waters for the Drake. He’s not used to being a free agent and having any say in what team he goes to, instead of being passed around the league like a plate of hors d’oeuvres.
I thought his pitch was more of a splitter/change up that moved like a screwball than an actual screwball
Looks like a cheap bullpen candidate for an MLB team, an NPB team or the Pittsburgh Pirates.
That dude would absolutely destroy the whole bathroom
Isn’t that what you do when you are looking for dates.
so definitely don’t send him to the A’s
Lost 2 mph on his velocity last year. Could have just been the weird start to the season, that’s obviously a massive question mark.